Video shows the moment a black car suddenly reverses into an SUV, then slams into a restaurant window in Revere, Massachusetts, on Sunday, shuttering the restaurant for the time being.
Its owner fears the damage could drive La Esquina del Sabor, on Unity Avenue, to close for good. Every day the restaurant remains closed, Diego Preciado said, it loses $9,000.
"I don't know how the other guys are doing, how they can bring food home, like me," he said, adding, "I don't know who's at fault, but somebody has to pay."
No one was hurt in the crash on Sunday, but Revere police have said it caused major structural damage. Walls were wrecked and the roof buckled.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
It wasn't immediately clear how the crash happened or if the driver would face charges. Police said Sunday they were investigating; they didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.
Ronal Aponte was in the back of the Colombian restaurant, a local staple for the last eight years, washing dishes when he heard the crash.
"Fortunately there was a pillar that was strong enough to absorb the impact," Aponte said in Spanish. "Otherwise it would have been a catastrophe, because the restaurant was full."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
Preciado said the restaurant was the first business he opened in the U.S.
"Last night I couldn't sleep," he said. "My partner, she's crying. I cried last night because it's my dream. It's part of my dream and I can't do nothing right now."
Aponte said he and the other roughly two dozen workers have been wondering when they'd be able to return to work.
Regular customers said the situation was sad.
"Maybe the place is gone for good or I hope the place can come back and open its doors," Carlos Zuluaga said.
